Inspiration
Iteration is my continued goal of brewing that illusively light coloured, yet hoppy, full flavoured and mid-low ABV American Pale Ale. This version was based off of Maine Beer Company's Mo Pale Ale. While I have never had the pleasure of trying this beer, I found the history of the brewery to be fascinating - in that the owners would, in their days of homebrewing, repeat a beer recipe over and over until they had exactly what they were looking to produce. I not only knew that this would be a true and tested recipe, I really appreciate that level of dedication to quality and, for that reason, I figured I'd take my Iteration Series down to Portland, Maine to see what these guys are doing so well.
I began by using the same hops as Mo (outlined on their website), a water profile written by the Mad Fermentationist based on brewing light coloured and hoppy beers (as a starting place), the same grains as used in Mo, and the same yeast as I used in Iteration 1, Wyeast 1318. This is definitely where the recipe takes a turn from Maine Beer Company's beer. I have yet to see such an attenuated Pale Ale as these guys are producing, which makes me think they're brewing with either Wyeast 1056 or, at least, a very clean American Ale yeast strain. Regardless, I wanted to stick with 1318 for this recipe as a point of reference for comparison with Iteration I.
The name for this beer came from the windy nights on the farm I'm living on. The night that I brewed this beer, I sat out on the pasture after I had finished cleaning up with a growler in hand, and it soon became so windy that my growler began howling in the wind. So this beer will be a nice reminder of that warm wind on Elson.
As opposed to Iteration I where the recipe had a very simple base malt bill, I wanted to continue building complexity to the Iteration Series by using a few more grains. The most interesting of the bunch is certainly the red wheat - a malt used in a good number of Maine Beer Company's recipes. I haven't seen this malt being used in many Pale Ale recipes before, so I'm excited to see what its characteristic creamy, sweet, malty and wheat flour flavours contribute to the beer.
Finally, having read a Zymurgy article in the past week about hop bursting, I figured I'd do what I had never done before, and load up a preposterous level of hops at the 0 minute, whirlpool mark to see if this technique is one that I enjoy in my beers.
I began by using the same hops as Mo (outlined on their website), a water profile written by the Mad Fermentationist based on brewing light coloured and hoppy beers (as a starting place), the same grains as used in Mo, and the same yeast as I used in Iteration 1, Wyeast 1318. This is definitely where the recipe takes a turn from Maine Beer Company's beer. I have yet to see such an attenuated Pale Ale as these guys are producing, which makes me think they're brewing with either Wyeast 1056 or, at least, a very clean American Ale yeast strain. Regardless, I wanted to stick with 1318 for this recipe as a point of reference for comparison with Iteration I.
The name for this beer came from the windy nights on the farm I'm living on. The night that I brewed this beer, I sat out on the pasture after I had finished cleaning up with a growler in hand, and it soon became so windy that my growler began howling in the wind. So this beer will be a nice reminder of that warm wind on Elson.
As opposed to Iteration I where the recipe had a very simple base malt bill, I wanted to continue building complexity to the Iteration Series by using a few more grains. The most interesting of the bunch is certainly the red wheat - a malt used in a good number of Maine Beer Company's recipes. I haven't seen this malt being used in many Pale Ale recipes before, so I'm excited to see what its characteristic creamy, sweet, malty and wheat flour flavours contribute to the beer.
Finally, having read a Zymurgy article in the past week about hop bursting, I figured I'd do what I had never done before, and load up a preposterous level of hops at the 0 minute, whirlpool mark to see if this technique is one that I enjoy in my beers.
The Recipe
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 3 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 5.5 gallons
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)
Statistics
Original Gravity: 1.060
Final Gravity: 1.013
ABV (standard): 6.2%
IBU (tinseth): 31 (calculated - doesn't account for whirlpool additions, which are significant)
SRM (morey): 5.51
Fermentables
6.1 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (86.6%)
0.35 lb - American - Red Wheat (5%)
0.25 lb - American - Caramel / Crystal 30L (3.5%)
0.25 lb - American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt) (3.5%)
1.5 oz - German - Acidulated Malt (1.3%)
Hops
4.8 g - Warrior, Type: Pellet, AA: 16, Use: First Wort, IBU: 12.12
0.3 oz - Falconer's Flight, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 8.04
0.3 oz - Simcoe, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 10.21
1.7 oz - Falconer's Flight, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Whirlpool for 25 min at 170°F
2.5 oz - Simcoe, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Whirlpool for 25 min at 170°F
2 oz - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Dry Hop for 4 days
Mash Guidelines
1) Temp: 146 F, Time: 60 min
2) Sparge, Temp: 168 F, Time: 20 min
Yeast
Wyeast - London Ale III 1318 - Generation 2 from brewery (Crannog Ales)
Water Profile
Ca2: 65
Mg2: 0
Na: 0
Cl: 55
SO4: 140
HCO3: 0
Notes
Brewed on June 14th, 2015
Fermentation begins at 64F for 1 day
Fermentation temperature increased to 69F over 1 day for 5 days
Cold crashed on June 20th
Transferred to secondary and dry-hopped on June 22nd
Bottled on June 26th
Batch Size: 3 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 5.5 gallons
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)
Statistics
Original Gravity: 1.060
Final Gravity: 1.013
ABV (standard): 6.2%
IBU (tinseth): 31 (calculated - doesn't account for whirlpool additions, which are significant)
SRM (morey): 5.51
Fermentables
6.1 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (86.6%)
0.35 lb - American - Red Wheat (5%)
0.25 lb - American - Caramel / Crystal 30L (3.5%)
0.25 lb - American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt) (3.5%)
1.5 oz - German - Acidulated Malt (1.3%)
Hops
4.8 g - Warrior, Type: Pellet, AA: 16, Use: First Wort, IBU: 12.12
0.3 oz - Falconer's Flight, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 8.04
0.3 oz - Simcoe, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 10.21
1.7 oz - Falconer's Flight, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Whirlpool for 25 min at 170°F
2.5 oz - Simcoe, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Whirlpool for 25 min at 170°F
2 oz - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Dry Hop for 4 days
Mash Guidelines
1) Temp: 146 F, Time: 60 min
2) Sparge, Temp: 168 F, Time: 20 min
Yeast
Wyeast - London Ale III 1318 - Generation 2 from brewery (Crannog Ales)
Water Profile
Ca2: 65
Mg2: 0
Na: 0
Cl: 55
SO4: 140
HCO3: 0
Notes
Brewed on June 14th, 2015
Fermentation begins at 64F for 1 day
Fermentation temperature increased to 69F over 1 day for 5 days
Cold crashed on June 20th
Transferred to secondary and dry-hopped on June 22nd
Bottled on June 26th